High Sheriff Concert

Well done to all those who took part in the concert last week. It was a wonderful occasion and again showcased the talents of the Music Department and musicians. It was perhaps the worst possible time of year for concert with large A level and GCSE examination on the next morning, but all rose to the challenge. The current High Sheriff of Bristol is Dr Ros Kennedy, who is also Vice Chair of Governors at BCCS. The concert is held annually and this year we were lucky to be able to feature the school by way of a commissioned composition and also features from the choirs and ensembles. We have had some wonderful feedback to the event and I congratulated students and department last week in assembly. It is perhaps the first time the school have performed to a wider Bristol audience. Most of the time we perform to ourselves and perhaps we have become a little used to the exceptional. Well done music, students and staff!

A small world but time for a Latté.

As ever there is much talk in the education press about the pressure on teachers and school leaders. Many of you may have watched the series “Educating Essex” in 2011. The series was filmed at Passmores School in Harlow. I worked on secondment there in 2002 while working in the Essex advisory service. At that point Vic Goddard, the schools current Headteacher, was an Assistant Headteacher and I remember him well. Since the series was made Vic has written a book about being a Headteacher titled “The Best Job in the World”. Last month he published an open letter directed to Nicki Morgan, the Secretary of State for Education. passmorespedagogy.wordpress.com/2015/05/27/a-letter-to-the-secretary-of-state/ The letter vividly highlights the pressures on teachers and leaders and invites Nicki Morgan over for a coffee, an invitation she accepts. That, I suppose, is the heart-warming bit, but the pressures on those working in state education remain and the letter highlights them vividly; increased accountability, persistent curriculum change, challenges in recruitment and inevitably budget cuts. Fortunately BCCS does not have the same recruitment issues as many schools, but there are challenging times ahead and much of the changes we have initiated recently are designed to meet those challenges. The Latté invite was a great idea, I wish I had thought of it Vic.